"Dirty Wars" presents a much more extensive look into the renewal of the US assassination program by the CIA and other three letter agencies of the US government. "Intel Wars" is not as well-written, and jumps around too much. ( )

A fast-paced and very interesting (if sometimes just slightly disjointed) overview of America's intelligence community in the years since 9/11, concentrating on the 2008-2011 period leading up to the death of Osama bin Laden. Drawing on the leaked Wikileaks cables plus many interviews with current and former intelligence officials, Aid's book highlights some of the many successes of recent years, while also documenting the continued turf-battles and bureaucratic infighting, the "data crush" brought on by too much data and not enough analysts to explain it, and the serious problem of intelligence personnel leaving the field in droves.

Aid explores the American intelligence community's role in Afghanistan, Pakistan and against the threat of homegrown terrorism most intensively, but also offers shorter summaries of what's happening in the Middle East more broadly, Latin America, and Southeast Asia. He does a very good job of explaining the vast array of different agencies within the intelligence community responsible for various bits and pieces of the puzzle, and I particularly liked a section on the men and women who do this work.

Gives a good sense of the challenges still out there and the work that will never end. ( )

Traces the growth of the American intelligence community after the September 11 attacks, citing the billions that have been spent on intelligence efforts while explaining why its sophisticated systems are still being eluded by enemies.